HID Global Provides ePassport Solution for Tanzania

HID Global is lending a hand in the digital transformation of Tanzania’s citizen ID and border control programs. The company has revealed that it is the primary supplier of the country’s new electronic passports.

The announcement comes in the same week as the news that Vision-Box biometric border screening technology is now being used at two of the country’s major airports. Vision-Box’s solution uses facial recognition to compare travelers’ faces to the images in their identity documents, and is aimed primarily at improving security in these deployments.

Now, with HID Global’s news, the larger scope of Tanzanian authorities’ digitization efforts are becoming more clear. HID Global says that with its ePassport solution’s physical and electronic security features allow Tanzanians to enjoy advantages like “simply scanning their passports electronically at border control stations upon entry and exit,” according to a statement from the company. The ePassports also feature a mobile “emergency passport” system allowing passport holders to keep a backup, virtual passport on their mobile devices that can be used to quickly and easily request a replacement if a physical passport is lost or stolen.

It all points to an ambitious digitization program on the part of Tanzania’s government authorities, and it looks like HID Global will continue to be an important partner in such activities, with the company asserting that it “has formed a multi-year relationship with the government of Tanzania to ensure the highest levels of security for many years to come.”

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January 31, 2018 – by Alex Perala